At some point this winter I decided I would fly up with my daughter to see my Grandma at her home in the bustling metropolis of Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania. My family traveled there at least once a year, every Christmas, until my Grandpa passed away and it had been too long since I had returned.

Since I have the type of work that has allowed me to spend a lot of time with my daughter I had some awareness of what I was getting into but I really had no idea. I packed light (one little camera and some clothes) but the carseat, bags of toys, Crayons and stickers, and other assorted kid things pushed it to the baggage equivalent of at least three or four adults. Thankfully my sister said she'd meet me outside of D.C. and we could drive my aunt's SUV the rest of the way up so that was a big help. There was still about five hours of driving and a few hours of airport and flying time but it still seemed manageable. The eleven hours each way that it actually took was less "manageable."

Anyway, there had been some talk about Grandma potentially moving to a retirement home and after a whirlwind of last minute arrangements she moved in to "The Ritz" as she called it. This all happened the weekend before we arrived which left her house somewhat empty and slightly surreal.

When I had first planned the trip I had ideas in my head of what photographs I would take. I have to think that other photographers understand what that means but it's not more complicated than it sounds. I figured I would return with a wide variety of photographs. "Vacationy" travel photos if you will. Landscape photos, photos around town, Grandma in her house, and on outings we would take her on but obviously that changed with her being at her new place.

One morning I woke up to a break in the torrential freezing rain and started wandering inside, outside, and under the house looking at all the things I remembered so well. I grabbed my camera and what you see below are nearly the only photos I took the whole time.

The rest of the time was spent in the bathroom with my sick and completely exhausted daughter (don't know how you single parents do it) and talking to Grandma. Taking those vacation pictures just didn't seem important.

I'm not sure why I'm posting this on my blog but if anything I just wanted to share some little pieces of my life, past and present. Visiting your Grandma tends to make you think about such things.